Aortic intramural hematoma: an increasingly recognized aortic disease.

Aortic intramural hematoma (IMH) is a rarely diagnosed pathological condition that is not well characterized to date. We diagnosed IMH in 4 of 31 patients with suspected aortic dissection admitted to our coronary care unit from 1992 to 1995. In all 4 cases, IMH was located in the ascending aorta.

Abnormal ventricular repolarization mimicking myocardial infarction after heterocyclic antidepressant overdose.

In 2 young adult women who experienced acute heterocyclic antidepressant intoxication, we found a quite unusual electrocardiographic pattern characterized by abnormal ST-tract elevation in the right precordial leads associated with a marked QRS widening (right bundle branch block and left anterior fascicular block type). Because serum electrolyte imbalance and acute myocardial ischemic events were excluded, the mechanism by which antidepressant overdose may produce such elevation of the ST tract remains unclear.

Body surface potential mapping in ischemic patients with normal resting ECG.

Patients with ischemic heart disease frequently have a normal 12-lead electrocardiogram. We recorded body surface maps from 14 ischemic patients with normal (group A) and 5 with abnormal (group B) resting electrocardiograms. ST-T map data were compared with those of 36 normal subjects.

Comparative evaluation of exercise ST response in healthy males and females. A computer study.

In order to evaluate both quantitatively and qualitatively exercise ST response in females, we have studied 232 healthy subjects (age range 35-59 years): 82 women (mean age 45.8 years) and 150 men (mean age 46.1 years).

[The ambulatory ECG in the evaluation of coronary insufficiency].

To assess the diagnostic value of continuous ambulatory ECG in exercise angina pectoris, 49 males (mean age 52, 1 years), with exercise ischemic ECG changes and positive coronary angiography were evaluated. Ischemic ST-changes were detected by ambulatory ECG in 47% of those patients; most of these ST segment displacements were asymptomatic and a lot of them occurred at rest. In order to assess the specificity of ambulatory ECG, 90 healthy subjects (47 males and 43 females, mean age 43,6 years), were also evaluated 8.